We (A)put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but (B)as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: (C)by great endurance, (D)in afflictions, (E)hardships, calamities, (F)beatings, imprisonments, (G)riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; (H)by purity, (I)knowledge, patience, kindness, (J)the Holy Spirit, (K)genuine love; by (L)truthful speech, and (M)the power of God; with (N)the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, (O)through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and (P)yet well known; (Q)as dying, and behold, we live; (R)as punished, and yet not killed; 10 (S)as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; (T)as poor, yet making many rich; (U)as having nothing, (V)yet possessing everything.

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We don’t give anyone any reason to be offended about anything so that our ministry won’t be criticized. Instead, we commend ourselves as ministers of God in every way. We did this with our great endurance through problems, disasters, and stressful situations. We went through beatings, imprisonments, and riots. We experienced hard work, sleepless nights, and hunger. We displayed purity, knowledge, patience, and generosity. We served with the Holy Spirit, genuine love, telling the truth, and God’s power. We carried the weapons of righteousness in our right hand and our left hand. We were treated with honor and dishonor and with verbal abuse and good evaluation. We were seen as both fake and real, as unknown and well known, as dying—and look, we are alive! We were seen as punished but not killed, 10 as going through pain but always happy, as poor but making many rich, and as having nothing but owning everything.

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